Evidence Is The Basis of Justice - Dissertation Example

This dissertation examines the English law of evidence within the context of the Jeremy Bentham’s quote “to exclude evidence is to exclude justice”. This paper also examines the treatment of criminal evidence in judicial trials under the English law…

Extract of sample "Evidence Is The Basis of Justice"

Download file to see previous pages
The dissertation "Evidence Is The Basis of Justice" presents the analysis of the treatment of criminal evidence in judicial trials under English law.
In common law, the rule is that admissible evidence should be excluded if its probative value is more than offset by its illegitimately prejudicial effect. Probative value refers to the correct assessment of the significance evidence in relation to law and facts. The prejudicial effect is an incorrect assessment of the significance of evidence in relation to the erroneous application of law to the facts. Probative value and prejudicial effect are commensurable prone to a continuum of risk of error.
In Maxwell v DPP, the House of Lords observed the exclusion of propensity evidence as ‘one of the most deeply rooted and jealously guarded principles of our criminal law’. Forty years later, in DPP v Boardman, House of Lords described the exclusion of propensity evidence as ‘pitted battlefield', obviously referring to the trajectory of treatment of exclusionary rule and admission of propensity evidence in some exceptional cases. In 2006, the High Court made a strict application of the exclusionary rule in Phillips v The Queen. This case involved the independent allegations of six teenage girls that the defendant known socially had raped or indecently assaulted them in like situations for over two years. The defendant denied the allegations and asserted that it was with the consent of some others. In the current U.K. law, the common law exclusionary rule has been abolished.... The defendant denied the allegations in some cases and asserted that it was with consent in some others. Since credibility of the complainants was in issue, judge allowed to tie all the cases together with cross-admissibility so as to justify admissibility of propensity evidence under exceptional circumstance, resulting in conviction of the defendant in respect of allegations of five out of the six complainants. Although the appeal court confirmed the decision, the High Court quashed the convictions holding that evidence should be excluded. However, retrials were ordered. This, an Australian case, was pursued further only by two of the complainants. One of them resulted in a hung jury with the complainant abandoning any further trial. The other ended in conviction for rape. Meanwhile, another complainant made a charge that the defendant while on bail awaiting retrial, raped her twice for which the defendant pleaded guilty. Thus, the cases ended with conviction of the defendant for six and a half years of imprisonment and three years and three months non-parole.9 The current U.K. law in this connection is that common law exclusionary rule has been abolished with the enactment of Criminal Justice Act 2003 in part 11, Chapter 1.10. However, propensity evidence is relevant for only admission and it is for the trial judge to exclude it or not depending on whether it would be unjust or its likely to have adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings as per section 78 of Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PCE) 11 and s101 of Criminal Justice Act 200312. PCE actually provides for exclusion of unfair evidence. Part 11 of the Criminal Evidence Act 2003 deals with evidence of bad character which the common law had provided for
...Download file to see next pagesRead More

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Evidence Is The Basis of Justice

...? Neurophysiological Basis of Amnesia Within the spectrum of memory and cognitive disorders, there can be both organic and psychological causes. The lines between the two can blur easily. There are dissociative disorders in which medical testing is required to rule out neurophysiological factors that can mimic the effects of deeper, organic dysfunction. Key distinguishing factors are coming to light due to new research, and the post-mortem study of affected brains. While simple brain trauma or disease-states can cause the loss of memory, there are organic/medical conditions that may also impede new memories. The classic form of 'soap-opera' amnesia seems to close off personal information, allowing a fresh start upon which...

...?My is Meheret Hadelo Halabo and I met my husband, Greg Brown, on an internet-dating site on July 7, 2007. After a short acquaintance we got attracted to each other and he indicated that he wanted to marry me and told me that he would come over on my birthday. He came to Ethiopia in May 2008 and after seeing each other we celebrated my birthday. He was introduced to my parents and immediate friends. Together we visited historical places. Three weeks later he returned and started the process to bring me over. And we decided to get married on June1, 2009, a week after my arrival, as this was the second anniversary of our knowing each other. However, we had a minor misunderstanding on the day of the marriage and I refused to eat... is Meheret...

.... Conclusion Histology and molecular genetics have techniques that are important when differentiating malignant cells from normal cells during tissue analysis. Staining is one of the techniques that are used to differentiate cancer cells from normal cells during tissue analysis. Cancer is usually referred to as numerous diseases due to the many variants of the disease evident and the different areas of tissues, disease affects. The experiment was able to demonstrate the importance of histology in the diagnosis of diseases. Reference List Ahmed, N 2007, Biology of Disease, New York, NY: Taylor & Francis. Coleman, W. B 2009, Molecular Pathology: The Molecular Basis of Human Disease, Burlington, MA:...

...to which the primary antibodies (H19) are bound. The results from the experiment show that samples from patients contain antibodies. Through the experiment there is also an evidence of patients having pernicious anemia. The main limitation to this experiment is time which is limited. A mouse stomach with Haemotoxylin and eosin (Fig 4) Discussion The antibody response is a very useful tool for diagnosing pernicious anemia. This is because of the antigen antibody reaction. In this experiment time proves to be a limiting factor. We also conclude that samples from patients contain antibodies. Through the experiment we also come across patients having pernicious anemia. Another constrain observed with this experiment in the...

... 23 March Evidence To what extent must the parties in civil and criminal cases disclose their evidence to the other side? A main issue in the civil and procedural law in criminal cases is the extent to which either side has to create revelation for the other. This has guided to the growth of an imposing body of jurisprudence which is both in the Strasbourg and in the United Kingdom. In any criminal actions there can be opposing interests, for instance national security or they require to defend the observers who are at risk of reprisals or to maintain the secret police techniques for examining crimes, which have to be weighed against the liberties of the accused. In certain cases it can be essential to withhold convinced evidence... from the...

...the issue of investigation theory disclosure. This way, it will be possible for the defense to understand how the incriminating evidence for the defendant was arrived at, and thus enable them to assess its accuracy in incriminating the defendant. This way, the investigation process becomes a part of the normal evidence disclosure procedure, allowing the defense to be fully informed, as does the prosecution. This would serve the justice right, by enhancing the constitutional right of the defendant; the right to a fair trial (Keane and Paul, 77). Works Cited Federal Judicial Center. (1975). Federal rules of evidence for United States courts and magistrates: approved...

From the two perspectives, there is a contrast basing on the issue of spying, which is a form of investigation patterns, which incurred and propelled by various participants in both texts. Text 1 adopted from the Arabs news Germany summons U.S. envoy over Merkel phone spy suspicion and Text 2 adopted from the New York news Anger Growing among Allies on U.S. Spying Table1: The clause structure types: Transitive Intransitive Active Passive Long Short Text: 1 1.8kol,5 8 18 1 5 Text: 2 14 9 16 3 8 From the table 1 it gives a clear indication that in both texts transitive clauses have been used more that intransitive clauses. In addition, there is an active voice more than passive voice. We define a transitive clause as one that involv...

...INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL THEORY BASED ON EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE International Financial Theory Based on Empirical Evidence Introduction The three main theories in international finance are the purchasing power parity theory, interest rate parity theory and the international Fischer effect. In this report, the empirical verification for each of these theories is done. This report is divided into four sections. In the second section, a critical discussion on the existing theoretical and empirical evidence is done for the three theories. In the third section, original empirical data analysis for each of these theories is done .In the final section, based on both these, conclusions and recommendations are developed.
2. Critical Discussion... on...

...﻿The Basis of Christianity
Christianity is the most well-renowned religion in the world and has well over 2 billion followers. Christians are of the belief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah that was pledged to the people in the Old Testament. The basis of this religion is in the idea that Jesus is the Son of God and that God has sent his son on earth to help and save the humanity from a life of sin and the multiple horrid consequences of a sinned life.
One of the most crucial beliefs in Christianity is regarding the Crucifixion of Jesus and that Jesus gave his life on the Cross. Followers of Christianity solemnly believe that Jesus Christ will come back from the dead on the day of Judgment. Although...

...of these amendments is the right to exclude evidence that is illegally obtained from the trial (Colb, 2011).
Laws that deal will exclusion of evidence are sometimes marred by a conspicuous lack of clarity. These laws particularly have been a source of contention in the justice system, warranting the need for a deeper look into the subject. The piece sets out to talk about the function of the 4th and 14th amendments in protecting the rights of suspects. This is especially as regards exclusion of evidence. Some of the questions to be taken into consideration include an example of a case where excluding evidence changed the outcome of the case. In addition,...

10 Pages(2500 words)Research Paper

sponsored ads

Save Your Time for More Important Things

Let us write or edit the dissertation on your topic
"Evidence Is The Basis of Justice"
with a personal 20% discount.